Cinnamon Roll Pancakes

Who doesn't love to go to the mall, walk past the food court and see those oh so gooey cinnamon rolls sitting there, covered in mass amounts of cream cheese frosting, waiting to be eaten?

Then you think of the extra calories that you're about to indulge in. You blindly turn your head and walk the other way. Or, you vow to skip a meal and give in.

My solution is to turn all that ooey-gooey goodness into a breakfast. You can eat 2 or 3 of these pancakes and still have consumed around 100 less calories than you would eating that one cinnamon roll. A Cinnabon Cinnamon Roll, according to Cinnabon.com, contains 880 calories and 36g of fat. These pancakes 614 calories and 30.9g of fat per serving. Plus you eat them for breakfast, as a meal. It should be a decent amount of calories to keep you going until lunch.

Cinnamon Roll Pancakes

The Filling

4 Tbs Unsalted Butter, melted

1/2 C Packed Brown Sugar

1 Tbs Ground Cinnamon

Mix it together until smooth, pour into a pastry bag and set aside.

The Frosting

2 oz Cream Cheese, softened

1 C Powdered Sugar

1 tsp Vanilla Extract

2 Tbs milk

Mix it together until smooth, pour into another pastry bag and set aside.

The Pancake

1 C All-Purpose Flour

2 tsp Baking Powder

1 tsp Baking Soda

Dash Salt

1 large egg

1 C Milk

1 tsp vanilla

In a medium bowl, mix together dry ingredients. Whisk in egg, milk and vanilla.

In a large non-stick skillet or on a griddle, over medium-low heat, ladle out about 1/4 C batter at a time. Snip the tip off the pastry bag containing the Cinnamon Filling. Swirl it around in the batter in a spiral pattern. Cook until the surface is bubbled and bottom side is golden brown. Flip and continue to cook the second side until lightly browned.

When ready to serve, snip the tip off the pastry bag containing the frosting. Swirl it over the pancakes.